Red Star Rising
by xKishii
Summary: Years into the future, everything lives underground, safe from a sun that incinerates all who dare face it. Living underground is hard with packed houses, but work hard, and you'll be fine. However, soon all of this will change. The consequence of running away will soon arise, and will leave all living things at the verge of extinction once again unless sacrifices are made. DCxYR!


**A/N**

**Hello! Aum, another story. Random plot popped up in my head. Ehhh, I decided to try giving a pairing that doesn't seem to have a lot of popularity compared to the others a shot at being the main pairing, so if you read the summary, I chose Chung x Ara. I thought these two could work after a bit of thinking, so... err yeah. I'll try not to make any more stories after this until I get some complete... Enjoy!**

**CLASSES**

**Chung: Deadly Chaser**

**Ara: Yama Raja**

**Elsword: Rune Slayer**

**Aisha: Elemental Master**

**Rena: Grand Archer**

**Raven: Reckless Fist**

**Eve: Code Nemesis**

**Elesis: Blazing Heart**

**Add: Base**

_Here is a story, where the living race is hanging on by just a fingertip. _

_Not just humans aren't safe. Nasods, demons, lizards, plants, every living thing is in danger._

_The Solar Apocalypse is the demise of all living things, no matter who or what they are._

* * *

_A boy with cream-colored hair that had brown tips at the edges of part of his hair tightly gripped the hand of a girl with long, black hair and orange eyes. They were staring at each other solemnly, a sad smile on their faces. Together, they turned their vision towards their intertwined hands, reaching for a cold, steel gray button and pressing it. A tremendous shake was felt, as they looked up and watched the night sky silently. No words were exchanged between them, only a silent, cold air lingered. Though finally, the girl turned towards the boy, and opened her mouth to say something._

* * *

"Chung. Wake up." A girl with silvery locks of hair shook a boy with cream-colored hair. He blearily blinked a few times before fulling opening his eyes, revealing a deep cerulean color. He groaned and slowly got up, the covers falling off his torso to reveal a bare chest. The girl with silver hair appeared unfazed by this as she tossed him a plain white t-shirt, him catching with one hand.

"Thanks, Eve." Chung muttered, still trying to shake off some sleep. Eve just flicked her hair back and turned around, elegantly leaving. He stared at her, contemplating how people could even walk elegantly. Sighing, he quickly put the shirt on and stepped out of his bed, continuing to think.

_She was in my dream again. Why? The only thing I can remember is black hair and orange eyes, the rest of her features are blurry._

Stretching his arms, the male left his plain and boring room and entered the living room of a small, wooden house. Eve went straight to cleaning her Nasod spears, as Chung noted a rather large stack of them next to her with not a speck of dust on it. His red-haired friend, Elsword, was studying books on magic with a purple-haired magician named Aisha. An elven lady with spring green hair known as Rena was busy cooking breakfast with scarce materials. Elsword's older sister, Elesis, was arm-wrestling with a male who had a Nasod arm and a spot of white on his dark hair, Raven. Chung couldn't tell who was winning so far. A newer addition to their group, Add, was watching Eve clean her spears with interest. It seemed like the only thing that he cared about was Eve, which kind of offended Chung in a way. The house was already cramped enough as it is, but they had no choice.

There wasn't a lot of space living underground, especially when you're trying to fit the entire population of the world in there.

Life underground was all about hard work and survival. As long as you worked, you'd be safe. Chung had a kind and hardworking family, and his days were easy.

"Chung, we're running out of food. It's your turn to go to the market. Elsword, you have to check on the vegetation in the back." Rena called from the kitchen as she came with mini-hamburgers and orange juice squeezed from real oranges. Elsword groaned in complaint, eating his food in record time like usual. The red-head was a big eater, unlike his sister. The Rune Slayer went out to the back anyway, despite the complaints coming from himself, to check on their crops.

Plants need sunlight, so how did they get that sunlight exactly?

Well, with a teenage engineering prodigy and an ancient Nasod, they sure did have the advantage. Together, Add and Eve developed an artificial solar panel that gave off special light which had the nutrients that the plants needed. However, this led to little to no electricity for their own home, and had to live off of candles and fireplaces for light. The invention gave them a boost in money, and caused vegetation in the market to start up again after providing a few extra panels to aspiring farmers. Except that money is now long gone.

Chung nodded at Rena and got up to get his jacket. Elsword came in with a joyous smile on his face, looking at everyone happily.

"Corn is ready!" He cheered, some others cheered too. Rena burst into a huge smile and quickly got to the closet, taking out harvesting tools and running out towards their garden to harvest the corn. It was rare that they got any corn to eat. Rena then popped her head through the door.

"And Chung, bring your Silver Shooters. People are starting to get more desperate out there. More reports of murder and prostitution. For a very handsome teen like you, you're definitely an ideal person to jump." She warned. Chung slightly blushed but just nodded again, trotting back to his room and taking his Guardian Stone, tucking it in the pocket of his shorts. Taking an old plastic bag, he put on his sneakers and left the house, waving goodbye to his friends. His shoes left prints on the dirt pavement of the area, but that was normal. They were already caked in dirt anyway from all the walks, since paving roads isn't really something one would think of when they're on the verge of dying any time.

* * *

_The dream again..._

A girl with long black hair shot up from her bed, orange eyes wide with shock as she felt tears brimming. She quickly wiped them away, putting on a cleaner white shirt and jeans as well as her spear, quickly shoving on her thigh-high boot and dress shoe that only covered her toes and the back of her foot. Her hair flowed behind her as she grabbed a plastic bag and a comb, leaving her house and brushing her messy hair on the way to the market. Grooming wasn't necessarily something she should worry about, but well, Apple and Proto would be SO mad if they saw how much of a mess her hair was in the morning. Thank El they weren't awake yet.

Though, wouldn't she just be better off without all of her housemates?

They do little to nothing to help her. It's always just her.

Hey Ara, make breakfast.

Hey Ara, get the groceries.

Hey Ara, tend the crops.

Hey Ara, go beat up those baddies outside.

Hey Ara do this, hey Ara do that, hey Ara, Ara, ARA!

Why couldn't she just live alone? It would be so much easier having to tend to only herself than so much other people. Or at least, if they did something in the house, it would be so much better! Even doing the dishes would mean so much to her! But NO. They sit on their butts all day gossiping and watching television, using electricity that ARA affords.

Life underground was all about hard work and survival. As long as you worked, you'd be safe. Ara had a lazy and ungrateful family, and her days were harsh.

The only thing keeping her sanity around them was the boy in her dreams. His face was faint, she could only recall beautiful blue eyes, she wasn't sure what kind of blue, and spiky hair with brown tips. The way he'd smile at her in her dreams with true sincerity, and help her even if she didn't ask for it. He'd relieve her of all the burdens she had on her shoulders and help her out. He was basically what she wanted from her housemates. Someone who would help her. Ara softly laughed to herself. Funny how she liked an imaginary boy in her dreams more than her housemates whom she had been with for three years. She snapped out of her train of thought, realizing she was already at the bustling market. She took out her pouch of ED and looked at it.

10,000 ED. Not much to spend.

Ara would have to sign up for the fight tournament next week to gain enough ED for the next two weeks. She could materialize spirit orbs from her palm, her swings with her spear were deadly. Ara didn't like it, but fighting was how she got money to live. She flinched as she was nudged by a man in a cloak, and noticed her pouch of ED was gone. Her orange eyes narrowed towards the treating man, and her ebony hair turned white. Nine tails sprouted from her back. Her narrowed orange eyes became red, and she summoned a spirit orb while gripping her spear. She dashed towards the man holding her pouch of ED with unnatural speed, as the man turned and panicked, pushing past people.

"GET BACK HERE!" Ara roared, jumping over people and hurrying towards him. She grit her teeth as she noticed him drink a speed potion, making him go faster than her. Must be an alchemist. However, at the rate he was going, she wasn't going to catch up to him. He was going to get away with all her money. She went as fast as she could, and slowly started to catch up. Ara was almost there. She reached out for his cloak and...

Tripped.

She was sent spiraling into the ground, crashing with a small cry of pain as the man continued to run. He was getting away from her line of sight as she struggled to get up, starting to run again. But she was slower than before, and now he was going to get away safely with her hard-earned money. Ara didn't want to drop down to prostitution. She didn't have to yet, but she might have to now. Ara was scared. She wanted to live, but she didn't want to resort to such dirty methods. That was when she saw a blur rush past her, and the girl gasped.

* * *

Chung hated these kinds of people, even if they were common now. They steal the hard work of others, and get away with it. When he saw a man getting away with a girl's pouch of money, he was infuriated. Whipping out his Silver Shooters, he ran past the collapsed girl towards the man. Luckily, he could be pretty dang fast when wearing light-weight clothing. Rushing towards the cloaked man, Chung smirked and held up a pistol.

"Going somewhere?" He asked slyly. The man started sweating, clutching the pouch of money to his chest. Chung didn't budge a bit from how desperate he looked.

"If you want money so much, why don't you actually WORK?" The Deadly Chaser held out his gun and slammed the blunt edge of it to the back of the thief's neck, causing him to fall towards the ground like a rag-doll. The pouch of money rolled out of the burglar's left hand. Chung knelt down and picked it up, and of course he was curious of the contents inside. He couldn't help himself, and looked. There was only 10,000 ED. Barely enough for a week's worth of food for groups. It was likely she was sent to buy groceries from a group, too. Chung felt sympathy for the girl, and walked back to her. The tails behind her were gone, and her hair was no longer white. It was ebony, and she looked up at him from the ground. Her eyes were orange. Chung flinched.

Ebony hair. Orange eyes. Just like the girl in his dream.

He awkwardly scratched the back of his head, unsure of whether or not she knew who he was and stretched out the hand that held her pouch.

"T-This is yours, right?" Chung started with difficulty. She slowly nodded, taking the pouch gratefully.

"Thank you." She murmured, getting up and dusting off the dirt on her jeans. He noticed her do a check to make sure the money was still in there, before turning around and leaving, probably to find things to buy. Chung checked his own wallet.

50,000 ED. They had a good amount for supplies. Especially with the garden they had in the back. He went over to the usual shops: a meat store and a dairy store, and purchased the usual necessities. Things usually cost a lot less if you brought your own bag to put groceries in. Heading on over to the final area he needed items from, the vegetation aisle, he noticed that ebony-haired girl again. She was picking out apples and oranges, and there was only one hunk of meat in her bag. People usually needed two, didn't they? He shrugged it off and went to the cashier to confirm his purchases, which consisted of the fruits and vegetables they didn't grow in their garden: Bananas, grapes, and asparagus (Elsword is going to be so mad once he sees there's asparagus in the bag). The cashier quickly checked out the items and he stuffed them all in his plastic bag, exiting the market. The ebony-haired girl walked out of the market as well, and she looked... sad. Like she wasn't looking forward to something. He wondered what it could possibly be, but it was probably just his imagination.

So Chung walked home without sparing an extra thought on the matter, unknowing of how accurate he was on her facial expression.

Yet he still couldn't get the girl herself out of his mind, and how similar she looked to the girl in his dreams.

* * *

Ara walked home quietly, grasping the bag of groceries in one hand and an empty pouch in the other. Her spear was slung over her back, and she had already gone ahead and signed up for the fight tournaments. It didn't seem like the other competitors amounted to much. She hoped, anyway. The reward was 100,000 ED. It was enough for an entire month. A lot was on the line for her. Right now she didn't have to resort to Eun, the spirit in her hairpin that tied part of her hair, yet, and Ara hoped that it wouldn't be sometime soon where she would have to reveal the Gumiho hiding in her hairpin. She may have done a rather large display of it today, but it seemed like everyone thought it was normal for it to happen, causing them to not look, so she was thankful. The spear-wielder arrived at a worn down one story wooden house, and she sighed. Her pale hand reached for the doorknob.

_Click._

The door swung open with ease, and she walked in. Ara entered the kitchen, and unpacked her groceries by neatly setting them on the table one by one. She heard footsteps to her left, and softly sighed again. The others were awake. Amelia, an elf with short blonde hair, burst out first with a smile.

"Yo, Ara! What's for breakfast?" Ara turned to look at her, forcing a polite smile that she just wanted to wipe off her face as soon as possible.

"Uh, fruit. We're running low on money, so I have to enter the fight tournament next week. It would be nice if you maybe went and did some volunteer work at the market to gain us some extra ED." Amelia snorted at Ara's casual comment.

"Pfft, no way! A marathon of ElType is starting today! TV IS MINE, GUYS!" Amelia yelled as she crashed on the old couch, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV to watch her shows. Ara sighed for a third time, this time sadly.

_Another failed attempt. My words just go through one ear and out the other, don't they?_

The rest of her housemates came tumbling in, their voices mixed with cheerfulness on ElType being on and some being disappointment. Ara came towards the living room with their food, which was set on one big paper plate. She set it on the oak wood table, leaving as soon as the tray was down due to everyone trying to look around her. The television set blared with life, and everyone laughed except for the lonely ebony-haired girl. She took her spear and walked outside into a deserted dirt area, past the crops. Creating a dummy, Ara began a series of quick slashes so fast they were just a blur. In no time flat, the dummy was just wandering spirit energy with barely a trace of what it was before. Ara lamely put her spear by her side. She didn't feel like practicing today.

Not in the mood to see her housemates, Ara scaled the side of the house and entered her room via window. The Yama Raja wanted to take a nap, and drift off to the land of dreams. Though she knew she was going to get that same boy in her dreams again. She'd feel kind of awkward if she dreamed about him again, especially because a voice whispered in her ear that he was the boy she had dreams of. What was she supposed to do about it? Find where he lives and say, "Hey, I just wanted to say for the past month I've been having dreams about you"?

_**That would soothe the situation, in a way. You never know what he could say back.**_ A stern, female voice echoed in her head. Ara sighed and flopped down on her bed.

"Aw come on Eun... no way am I gonna tell some random guy that. Plus, we only exchanged like, TWO sentences to each other! Maybe even one!" She whined out loud. A soft laugh was the reply in her mind.

_**You sound infatuated with him.**_

"Urgh, I don't have time for this lovey-dovey crap, Eun. I have a lot more things to worry about than him. Like the fighting tournament. And. My. SURVIVAL."

_**Love can make you do immeasurable things.**_

"Shut up." Ara stared at the ceiling and frowned. These were times where she wished she could put duct tape over a spirit's mouth.

"I was born under the surface. No one would tell me what the outside was like before the sun killed half the population." She muttered. Eun spoke up.

**_Then change the situation you are in right now. Soon, an inevitable annihilation will be upon us. If you don't do something soon, you can say good-bye to you and your blondie in shining armor._**

"You're the most persistent spirit I've ever met, Eun. How long has everyone been living underground again?" Ara questioned with malice. She was also secretly trying to change the subject or at least get the voice to quiet down.

She got no response. Eun was silent. Knowing the fox spirit wasn't going to speak to her anytime soon, the ebony-haired girl settled for thinking about the fighting tournament and not the person she met at the market. It's not like the guy in her dreams was actually a real person. They're probably not going to cross paths again, anyway. It's not something to put thought into.

Yet she still couldn't get the boy himself out of her mind, and how similar he looked to the boy in her dreams.

* * *

**Err. Yeah. Uh, I might continue this if I find that people like it? So...  
**

**Reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading!**


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